HAVANA, April 20. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday will visit Cuba, the last stopover of his Latin American tour.
He arrived in Havana on Wednesday from Nicaragua. Prior to that, he visited Brazil and Venezuela.
While in Havana, the top Russian diplomat will meet with his Cuban counterpart, Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla to discuss a wide spectrum of issues of the development of cooperation between the two countries, as well as regional and international problems. Apart from that, the Russian minister is expected to hold talks with Cuba’s leadership.
In March, Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolay Patrushev visited Cuba. He was received by President Miguel Diaz-Canel and the country’s former leader Raul Castro. He also held talks with Cuban Interior Minister Lazaro Alberto Alvarez Casas.
In an interview with Prensa Latina ahead of the visit, Lavrov noted that Moscow’s relations with Havana can be described as strategic partnership. "But this is cold hard words. They (the relations) are deeper, they are rooted in human ties, in sympathies between our peoples to each other. Naturally, they will develop further," he stressed.
The two countries maintain regular political contacts, including at the top level. Thus, Cuban President Diaz-Canel visited Moscow in November 2022. He met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, delivered a speech at the Russian State Duma, or lower parliament house, and took part in the unveiling ceremony of a monument to Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro in Moscow. The Cuban president was accompanied by the country’s foreign minister.
In November-December 2022, Cuban parliament speaker Juan Esteban Lazo Hernandez paid a visit to Russia. He held talks with Lavrov and with other Russian officials. Back then, the sides reiterated the high level of bilateral cooperation and the Cuban representatives highly assessed Russia’s support in condemning the United States’ anti-Cuban campaign.
Cuba is Russia’s partner on the global arena and, along with Russia, is a member of the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations. Havana has repeatedly condemned the West’s policy of unilateral sanctions and expressed support for the Russian side’s statements on the inadmissibility of NATO’s further expansion closer to the Russian border. Like Russia, Cuba is under Washington’s economic sanction, but the two countries develop cooperation, despite the illegitimate restrictions.
"Russia and Cuba have elaborated mechanisms and capacities to achieve results, regardless of the West’s restrictive measures. Today, we, along with all of our friends and partners, are working on new approaches to the establishment of logistics chains, financing, banking transactions which would not depend on the United States’ whims," Lavrov stressed.
So, while in Havana, the visiting Russian minister is expected to discuss the coordination of approaches to the existing geopolitical challenges and the development of cooperation in multilateral formats.
Russia and Cuba are actively cooperating in the trade-and-economic area. The two countries have set up a corresponding intergovernmental commission and have adopted a list of bilateral top priority projects until 2030. In November 2022, the sides discussed Russia’s assistance in the modernization of Cuba’s metallurgical works Antillana de Acero, deliveries of Russian-made railway engines and cars. The Cuban side is also interested in Russian fertilizers and wheat. Apart from that, the two countries are cooperating in the area of higher education.
An important area of cooperation is tourism. Cuba wants to receive more Russian tourists. Thus, the Cuban side has repeatedly said that it wants to ensure convenient payment means for Russian tourists. In March, a number of banks in the Cuban capital city began to accept Russian Mir cards. Cuban Ambassador to Russia Julio Antonio Garmendia Pena told TASS that he hoped that Russians would be able to use Russian Mir cards in Cuban restaurants and shops already this summer.